Tokyo's rockin' all-girl retro riot The 5.6.7.8's have released a new 'Best of' LP on local label Cheersquad for their Australian tour starting this week, with Sydney and two Melbourne shows already solfd out.

The house fuill sign went uop on Sydney's Thursday show (with Psychotic Turnbuckles and Cheetah Beat) and it's the same story with Melbourne shows at The Tote (March 25) and The Last Chance (March 26).  Gigs in Brisbane, Beechworth and Hobart are selling fast.

It’s a pairing for the ages: Master guitarist Tim Gaze (Tamam Shud, Khavas Jute) and Mike Rudd (Ariel, Spectrum) are doing a special run of shows in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales in May.

Rudd is best known for his work with Spectrum and that undeniably classic Australian song “I'll Be Gone”. He went on to front another metamorphosis of Spectrum in Indelible Murtceps and also Ariel, who found chart success with “Jamaican Farewell”.

These days, Mike plays as a duo with George Butrumlis and tackles songs that, for one reason or another, don't get played in the group setting. Outrageous songs like “Excuse Me Just One Moment” from Murtceps' “Warts Up your Nose” album and “Confessions of a Psychopathic Cowpoke” from Ariel's “A Strange Fantastic Dream” album, a song that was famously banned from airplay.

Opening the evening will be Tim Gaze who will take audiences on a trip re-visiting moments of his journey where he has regularly been referred to as one of Australia’s finest and inspiring guitarists.

These shows are proudly presented by SoundPressing.

Mike Rudd + Tim Gaze
MAY
2 - The Citadel, Murwillumbah, NSW
Tickets
3 - The Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets
4 - Banshees Bar, Ipswich, QLD
Tickets

_{Ups and Downs: Staying home for now.}

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is bearing down on the Australian coast and is already wreacking havoc on this weekend’s gigs in South-East Queensland. Today, it took down one in Sydney.

The sold-out Ups and Downs show with a reformed Crystal Set at Marrickville Bowling Club has been postponed as most members of the headliners are unable to leave Queensland for reasons that are too obvious. The band posted on Facebook:

Friends, it is with great regret that we have decided to postpone this Saturday's sold-out show at the Marrickville Bowling Club with the Crystal Set. Those of us who live in and around Brisbane need to stay close to home with family and friends as Cyclone Alfred approaches. The new date for the show is Thursday 10 April - all tickets remain valid, with refunds available if you cannot attend. Our huge apologies for all inconvenience this has caused!

Crystal Set’s shows at Smiths Alternative in Canberra on Friday and The Chippo in Sydney’s Chippendale from 5pm on Sunday are going ahead.  

The Saints ’73-’78 are celebrating 50 years since their first-ever shows this November with a month-long international tour, taking in New Zealand, USA, Canada, the UK, Sweden and Germany.

The Saints ’73-78 are surviving members from the original Saints, Ed Kuepper (guitar) and Ivor Hay (drums), joined by Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party, Bad Seeds) on guitar, Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys) on bass and Mark Arm (Mudhoney) on vocals. They will be augmented by a three-piece brass section and the band is fresh from a sold-out Australian tour.

UK tickets are available via Alltickets and dates are after the fold. NZ, Europe , Candian and US tickets are at feelpresents.com

Fresh from blistering Melbourne and Sydney shows with The Beasts last weekend, guitarist Charlie Owen is taking his “Searching For Charlie Owen” spoken word and music show across the Bass Strait to Tasmania, teaming with local comedian Anthony Morgan.

The Charlie Owen band history includes Beasts of Bourbon, the New Christs,  Tex, Don & Charlie, Tendrils and Working Class Ringos, and he’s collaborated with Paul Kelly, Chrissie Amphlett and Louis Tillett. 

"Searching for Charlie Owen” is a much more intimate affair than the recent Beasts gigs. It's a heartfelt trip through Charlie’s back pages full of warmth and reflection, and has sold out venues in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

The shows are supported by Sound Pressing Records and I-94 Bar. 

Charlie Owen
Tasmanian Tour
with Anthony Morgan
FEB
27 - Cygnet Bowls & Community Club, Cygnet
Tickets
28 - The Grand Poobah, Hobart
Tickets
MAR
2 Mar - Valentino Safe Co, Lilydale
(2pm)
Tickets

Dom Mariani, legendary frontman of garage rockers The Stems and power pop heroes DM3, steps away from his current blues-heavy outfit Datura4 to return to his jangle pop roots with a brand-new solo single, "Jangleland."

“Jangleland” is a breezy, country-tinged ode to the electric folk rock of the late '60s and the sun-kissed West Coast vibe of the early ‘70s.

It was recorded in Perth, Western Australia, and features Joe Grech (Datura4) on bass, drummer Salv Di Criscito, Peter Busher (The Lone Rangers) on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, and Luke Dux (The Floors and Kill Devil Hills) on pedal steel.

"Jangleland" is the first taste of Mariani's forthcoming self-titled solo album, showcasing the unique West Australian guitar pop flavour he helped pioneer from the late '80s onwards.

"I'd written 'Jangleland' some time ago and kept revisiting it, playing it at the odd solo show," Mariani explains.

"I'd accumulated enough material over the last decade that didn't fit with Datura4, and I thought it was time to put them all on one album. I've been a Byrds fan my whole life, and I'm still in awe of their sound. I was inspired to bring some of that spirit to this tune."

Dom Mariani's new single "Jangleland" b/w "Day After Day" is out now via Alive Naturalsound Records  and can be streamed or bought as a download here.